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leader, was in the middle of his welcoming address to his
fellow delegates, who were all attentively seated on rows of
wooden folding chairs that entirely filled up the rest of the
room.

Hayden stopped speaking when Emmett moved to a spot directly
between him and his audience and silently stood there for the
moment it took the Hun and Billy Landout to enter the large rec
room and plant themselves on each side of the open door. Everyone
else was also quiet, probably startled by their curiosity as to
who the three men were who interrupted their meeting.

Emmett's left side was facing the delegation, and his right
side faced Tom Hayden and the other speakers seated at the
platform, to whom he nodded a slight greeting before turning his
back on them to full-face the audience. As soon as he did this,
there was a yelp of recognition from the rear of the room where
Abbot Hoffman was sitting against the back wall with his
pseudo-Digger buddies Paul Krassner, Jim Fourat and Keith Lampe,
all dressed up in their beaded, purple-colored hippie costumes
and Mexican cowboy hats. Emmett gave them the same sort of nod
with which he greeted Hayden and the dais.

"My name's Emmett, 'n that fella over there's the Hun, 'n
the one next to him playing the flute is Bill Landout. We're here
representing the San Francisco Diggers which we'll get around to
later. First, we have to do somethin' more important. You see, we
had an accident 'bout six miles from here, 'n one of us, our
brother Tumble, was taken to town by the sheriff to stand before
the justice. Now, to make sure he don't end up in the slam 'n to
get him back here with us, we need a lawyer 'n someone with a
car, unnerstand?"

Emmett waited, looking around the room for some sign of
someone willing to volunteer. When he felt he waited long enough,
which was about a minute, he took a different tack, and with
extreme politeness asked one paunchy, bifocaled man in his
mid-thirties whether he was a lawyer. The man said that he was
and replied to the next question with, "Yes, I've got a
car."

This was Emmett's cue to rip the fat guy from his seat and
forcibly lead him outside to his car which they drove away with
Billy Landout behind the wheel following the lawyer's directions
on how to get to the town of Denton. Emmett soothed the very
ruffled attorney by explaining that he should have identified
himself as a lawyer immediately and volunteered, because
"we've been on the road for two solid days now, 'n we're not
in no mood to waste no time. Anyway, you're here to show how
you're concerned for the [end page 394]